Ukraine's Marchenko says working to seal US minerals pact as 'fast as we can'

By Andrea Shalal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Ukraine and the United States still have issues to resolve before signing a critical minerals agreement, but Kyiv officials are working to seal a deal "as fast as we can," Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhii Marchenko told Reuters on Thursday.

Marchenko and other Ukrainian officials met with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday to discuss the deal and ongoing questions about Russian assets frozen and held by the West since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The two countries signed a memorandum a week ago as an initial step towards clinching an agreement on expanding economic cooperation, including through the development of mineral resources in Ukraine, that has proven elusive.

U.S. President Donald Trump has promoted the deal since starting his second term in January. Both sides had been poised in February to sign a deal on natural resources, but it was delayed - and has since been revised - after an Oval Office meeting between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy turned into a shouting match.

Trump last week said he expected the deal to be signed on Thursday, but Marchenko said he did not expect a signing this week, although he and senior Ukrainian officials, including Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, are in Washington for the Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.

“There was progress and now our teams are working very closely together,” Marchenko said after an event hosted by the Ukrainian embassy. "There are still some questions which we are discussing,” he said, without providing any details.

"We are working as fast as we can to sign the deal," he told Reuters later in the day, although he gave no specific timetable for finalizing an agreement.

He said the talks were continuing despite Russia’s attacks on Kyiv overnight, saying the two issues were unrelated.

Treasury on Thursday disclosed the meeting with the Ukrainian officials and stressed the need to sign the economic partnership between the two countries as soon as possible.

Trump is pushing for a compact that gives the United States privileged access to Ukraine's natural resources and critical minerals in what he casts as repayment for military aid provided under former President Joe Biden.

Washington has said it will walk away from efforts to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine unless there are clear signs of progress soon.

Marchenko also said Bessent wants the issue of frozen Russian assets - which Kyiv says should be turned over to Ukraine to pay for war damages and losses - to be part of broader discussions.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal, editing by Karin Strohecker and Diane Craft)